The Georgia Piedmont is the largest region in Georgia, stretching across the middle of the state, unique for its shallow valleys and sloping hills made of rock like granite, which we see in Stone Mountain near Atlanta. Soils in the Piedmont are rich with nutrients from minerals found in the rock, allowing for high species diversity in both plants and animals. The native forests of the Georgia Piedmont are mostly oak and hickory, but only a few areas have this original vegetation.
When settlers came to the area they introduced new plants and animals to the region, which is why today we have both native and non-native species. While humans naturally migrate over time as a result of environmental or social conditions, such as a forest fire, or an especially cold winter, or the need for a job, plants do not. Their seeds. however, are carried, often by humans, to new areas. For example, non-native pine trees grow where old growth forests once stood and are now common in the Piedmont region, cut down for lumber and farming. There pines have altered the environment and can affect the flow of water because pine trees consume and hold more water than other trees.
To keep a landscape healthy, we must protect soil and water with plants. Plants maintain healthy ecosystems and prevent erosion in the form of runoff. Plants we use for this work must fit into the ecosystem, aiding animals and insects. This module will explore these concepts in more depth by examining rain gardens and bioswales.
Bioretention: A process whereby pollutants are removed from stormwater using non-invasive
plants and soil layers in a depression.
Bioswale: A channel designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while
removing debris and pollution.
Erosion: The gradual destruction of soil, rock, or plants. This is a naturally occurring process that
can be made worse by human activity.
Infiltration: The process by which water on land surface enters the soil.
Invasive: An introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and negatively alters its
new environment.
Native: A species indigenous to a given region or ecosystem as the result of local evolution
Non-Invasive: An introduced organism that, unlike invasive species, does not hinder or prevent the
survival of other organisms in an ecosystem.
Pollution: Substances that make land, water, and air dirty and unsafe or unsuitable to use.
Rain Garden: A man-made depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses
that infiltrate and clean stormwater runoff.
Runoff: The amount of water on land that ultimately reaches water bodies, often carrying dissolved
sediment material and pollution.
